SANDUSKY — Once the fuse was lit, there was no stopping the high-octane Rockets.
Bay Village Bay scored a pair of goals in the first 10 minutes and rumbled to a 5-0 win over Lexington in Wednesday’s Division II regional semifinal at Perkins’ Firelands Regional Medical Center Stadium.
The Rockets (17-2-1) are headed to the regional championship game for a third straight season and will play Celina for the regional title at noon Saturday at Lake High School. Celina stopped Napoleon 2-1 in Wednesday’s other semifinal game in Findlay.
“We made a couple of mistakes in the first 10 minutes and just like that we were down 2-0,” said first-year Lex coach Peter Them, whose Minutemen finished at 16-4-1. “They came out and put a lot of pressure on us. It was too big of a hole to climb out of.
“They were big, fast and strong.”
The Rockets, ranked seventh in Division II in the final Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association state poll, led 11th-ranked Lexington 3-0 at intermission.
“We held our own for a while in the second half,” Them said. “Then they scored a couple of quick goals.
Still, our guys played hard from the opening whistle to the end.”
Senior Daniel Linhart had a hat trick for the Rockets, who outshot the Minutemen 19-1.
Back on Track: Lexington won its first district championship in three years and captured the Ohio Cardinal Conference crown.
“We had 16 wins, which is one off the school record, and nine shutouts on the season, which is one off the school record,” Them said. “It’s good to have the program headed back to where it used to be.”
Lex will lose 10 seniors to graduation.
“That is a great group of guys,” Them said. “They set the example for our younger guys way back in June.
Everybody bought in. It’s a testament to the kids and the hard work they put in.”
